Arthur Crew Inman
Arthur Crew Inman (May 11, 1895 - 1963) was a reclusive and unsuccessful American poet whose 17-million word diary, extending from 1919 to 1963, is 1 of the longest English-language diaries on record.Longer American diaries include those of Robert W. Shields and Edward Robb Ellis. New York Times Douglas Martin, "Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89," October 29, 2007, accessed December 21, 2010 Life Inman was born May 11, 1895 in Atlanta into a wealty Atlanta family. His father Samuel Martin Inman owned part of the Atlanta Constitution but derived his wealth from cotton trade and manufacturing.Ruppersburg, "Inman", Georgia Encyclopedia''Tammy Harden Galloway, ''The Inman Family: An Atlanta Family from Reconstruction to World War I (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2002) Arthur Indman left Atlanta to attend the Haverford School and then Haverford College, leaving college after 2 years because of a nervous breakdown. He never returned to the South after 1915. He married Evelyn Yates in 1923. In 1928, Inman edited and published Soldier of the South: General Pickett's war letters to his wife.Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1928 He moved to Boston, where he became increasingly obsessed with his health. He lived for much of his life in dark, soundproofed apartments. He owned several apartments in order to surround himself with noiseless spaces.Time: Gregory Jaynes, "In Boston: Inside a Tortured Mind," June 21, 2005, accessed December 21, 2010 Having inherited wealth, he was able to cater to his hypochondria and other eccentric ways and afford servants and others hired to come and talk with him. His wife, Evelyn, appears to have accepted that he would have sex with some of these so-called "talkers." He attempted suicide on several occasions. On December 5, 1963, when he found the noise from the construction of the Prudential Tower near his apartment unbearable, he committed suicide with a revolver in Brookline, Massachusetts. According to a theory, he suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy and may have been experiencing aspects of reality that the normal brain filters out.Anthony Peake, The Daemon: A Guide to Your Extraordinary Secret Self (2008, Arcturus), 74 His wife Evelyn died in 1985. Writing Poetry Inman published several volumes of what has been called "undistinguished verse".Ruppersburg A critic has described Inman as "a mediocre talent, wholly lacking in the sophisticated literary and philosophical education of the Ransom generation."Simpson, 157. The reference is to John Crowe Ransom. The Inman Diaries Inman left 155 handwritten volumes of the diary when he died, entirely unpublished. Inman's diary is not only considered unique by some, but historian David Herbert Donald called it "the most remarkable diary ever published by an American." Through its many volumes, Inman provides a panoramic record of people, events, and observations from more than 4 decades of the 20th century. The extent of his writing suggests he suffered from hypergraphia. Harvard professor of English and American literature Daniel Aaron published a 2-volume edition of selections in 1985. A one-volume version appeared in 1996.Daniel Aaron, ed., From a Darkened Room: The Inman Diary (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996) Reviewing the 2-volume edition, Time described Inman as a "megalomaniacal bigot misogynist Peeping Tom hypochondriac," who "hated Jews, Italians and Roosevelt while admiring Hitler." The reviewer for the New York Times enjoyed Inman's many portraits of working class and middle class visitors with interesting stories, but thought less of his self-revelations, "that mostly meant giving vent to bristling prejudices about lesser breeds (lesser than Nordic, that is to say)."New York Times: [http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/01/books/books-of-the-times-043692.html John Goss, Review of The Inman Diary, October 1, 1985], accessed December 21, 2010 Recognition Lorenzo DeStefano authored a play based on the diaries, Camera Obscura, which has been performed at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (2001) and at London's Almeida Theatre (2002). English director Jonathan Miller directed both of those productions.The Guardian/Observer (London) : Kate Kellaway, "The turtle, the librarian and the Barbie dolls," May 25, 2002 The Inman Diaries, an opera by Thomas Oboe Lee, based on the diary and DeStefano's play, was commissioned and produced by Intermezzo Opera of Boston. The world premiere took place there in September 2007.Boston Globe: Matthew Guerrieri, "'Diaries' has some very fine passages," September 17, 2007, accessed December 21, 2010 Lorenzo DeStefano's film version of his play, Hypergraphia, starring John Hurt, was in development as of the end of 2010, scheduled for a 2013 release.Internet Movie Database: Hypergraphia (2011), accessed December 21, 2010 Publications Poetry *''One who Dreamed: Songs and lyrics''. Boston: Four Seas, 1917. * Red Autumn. New York: Dutton, 1920. * Of Castle Terror. Boston: B.J. Brimmer, 1923. *''Bubbles of Gold''. New York: Dutton, 1923. * American Silhouettes. New York: Dutton, 1925. *''Shadows of Men''. London: Erskine MacDonald, 1925 *''Frost Fire''. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1926. *''Silhouettes against the Sun''. New York: Dutton, 1926. * The Night Express. New York: Dutton, 1927. *''None Now are Quietly Wise''. New York: Dutton, 1939. *''Where to Find Sanctuary''. New York: Dutton, 1940. * The Moon Drifter. Atlanta, GA: Oglethorpe University, 1940. * Three Moods: This I know, Hokusai saw, The maples are red. New York: Dutton, 1941. * American Portrait: A poem series. Richmond, VA: Dietz Press, 1955. Edited *George E. Pickett, Soldier of the South: General Pickett's war letters to his wife. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1928; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Journals *''The Inman Diary: A public and private confession'' (edited by Daniel Aaron). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Arthur Crew Inman, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 21, 2018. See also *List of U.S. poets References *Hugh Ruppersburg, "Arthur Crew Inman (1895-1963)", Georgia Encyclopedia. Web, December 21, 2010. *Lewis P. Simpson, "The Last Casualty of the Civil War: Arthur Crew Inman," The Fable of the Southern Writer (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994), 155-82 *Bob Summer, "An Inman's Private Life Becomes Public," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 13, 1985 *Philip Zaleski, "The Inman Diary," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 27, 1985 Notes External links ;Poems *"Give Me" ;Audio / video * [http://www.hypergraphiafilm.com Hypergraphia] film website * [http://www.darkenedroomfilm.com/Synopsis%20and%20Photos.htm Documentary film: From a Darkened Room] * [http://www.cameraobscuraplay.com Camera Obscura] ;About *Arthur Crew Inman (1895-1963) at the New Georgia Encyclopedia *"The Bizarre World of Arthur Inman", Washington Post *"Diary from a Darkened Room," Harvard Gazette *Lorenzo DeStefano, "Diary of a nobody" at The Guardian * [http://www.wgbh.org/programs/-855/episodes/-26879 Interview with Lorenzo DeStefano about production of Hypergraphia] * Boston Herald article by Donna Goodison October 31, 2010 * [http://www.hypergraphiafilm.com/PDFs/Imagine-Mag-Hypergraphia.pdf Imagine Magazine article on Hypergraphia by Carol Patton, December 2010/January 2011] Category:1895 births Category:1963 deaths Category:People from Brookline, Massachusetts Category:American poets Category:Suicides by firearm in Massachusetts Category:American diarists Category:Hypochondriacs Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Poets who committed suicide